Uber-trimmer

Now on his seventh America's Cup Alinghi headsail trimmer Simon Daubney tells about his role

No America’s Cup is complete without Alinghi uber-headsail trimmer Simon Daubney, originally part of Russell Coutts' Cup winning posse that made the transition to Switzerland from Team New Zealand after the Kiwi’s successful defence in 2000. Impressively Daubney is now on his seventh America's Cup following his debut on board the ‘plastic fantastic’ KZ7 in Fremantle.
Compared to his previous experiences, Daubney is finding the defence of the 33rd AC very different. "Normally at this stage as a team we’d be so comfortable on all our crossovers and all our ranges, what is our best sail upwind and our best sail downwind, etc and we are still learning fast here. It is all coming together now, but normally we would be ‘working on how to get out of a dial up in 2.5 knots and below' and we'd spend a week working on that. Now it’s a case of forgetting all these fine little points, because we have been pushed for time with this program." He adds this is one of their chief fears they have about their American counterparts – they have had almost a year more than them training on the water.
Aside from the difference between the relative preparation times of the teams, and their choice of weapon, the Swiss boat having two hulls and the American one having three and a phenomenal solid wing rig, Daubney reckons that when it comes to the outcome of the 33rd AC a lot will still come down to the sailing. "The conditions we have seen out there can vary a lot on a 20 mile leg, so positioning the boats on the course is going to be key. If you get it wrong and the other boat has even got a little bit more breeze than you, they are gone. The

MEMBERSplease log in to read the full article.

Password sharing is not permitted and is in breach of our Terms of Use